Returning to AT&T

Due to challenges in the current job market, it was extremely imperative that I attempt to save every single dollar when possible in addition to minimizing expenses. In lieu of this, I had to make the necessary decision to consolidate household cellular lines into one family plan. However, there was an interesting twist thrown into this situation: moving back to AT&T from T-Mobile. As much as I would have liked to stay on T-Mobile and start a family plan, it would have been unfair for me to expect an iPhone user to leave AT&T 3G to be stuck on EDGE. I honestly knew I wouldn't be willing to do that, so it would be senseless to ask that of my household.

Another factor was access to more 3G compatible handsets since AT&T's 3G frequency seems more popular than T-Mobile's. Using the Nokia N900 and Google Nexus One when they were exclusive had its own appeal, but that soon wore off with time. I simply felt cut off from most 3G devices on the market as I kept my T-Mobile account active, and didn't like being limited to EDGE speeds on review units.

There were definitely cons to returning to AT&T such as being locked to a contract with a $350 ETF and a 2GB data cap, but the benefits seemed to outweigh them nonetheless. If I could save money on an annual basis by using a family plan, that appeared to make the most sense. As much as I didn't want to admit it, another way to save even more money was to buy a network-locked model at a subsidized price. Yes, I did mention using network-locked device for a change! Honestly, if I could afford to buy another unlocked Nexus One I would have done so, but I could not.

At the time the move was made to AT&T, there was a sad and pitiful collection of Android devices. The Motorola Backflip amounted to nothing more than a Fisher-Price toy hampered with the overcrowded Motoblur UI, and the HTC Aria had a screen that was much too small and cramped. That inspired my move to BlackBerry as a temporary stopgap to await a worthwhile Android device with a hardware qwerty. If it weren't for Google Sync being compatible with the BlackBerry OS, the Bold 9000 wouldn't have been considered at all. I am hoping to one day have a dream Android phone with all that I'm looking for in hardware, but seems a long way off in the future. The only potential candidate at this moment is the Epic 4G coming to Sprint, but moving to a CDMA carrier is absolutely out of the question. One can only pray that an unlocked GSM model would be available for the Samsung Galaxy S Pro, for I would certainly save up for it.

To see people gravitate to one device with such enthusiasm for its simplicity and functionality feels great, and I hope to one day have the same feeling. For right now, the Android OS is my preferred software of choice as I wait for a suitable hardware model. AT&T may not be the best carrier, but it's all I have to work with in the greater good of managing household finances.

TRENT
Sent via BlackBerry Bold 9000